In the field of racing, it is well known that individual cars tend to bump each other during the course of a race. Further, cars may collide with a side retaining wall or other barrier. These types of collisions often cause the metal defining one or more of the fender wells to deform. It is also well known that these types of collisions often cause the metal to tear.
The metal is often so deformed and torn such that the respective tires are either damaged or are in danger of being damaged from contact with the metal. Therefore, it is necessary in these instances to repair the damaged material in order to prevent further damage to the tires. To this extent, it is desirable to reform the metal to closely approximate the original contour of the interior of the fender well.
Due to the nature of automobile racing, it is well known that it is necessary to minimize time spent in the "pit". Therefore, it is important to make necessary repairs in a suitable fashion and in a time-efficient manner.
Several devices have been produced to remove dents from automobile bodies. Typical of the art are those devices disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,171,631 C. L. Butts Oct 23, 1979 4,495,791 J. E. Kemnitz, et al. Jan 29, 1985 4,748,842 B. W. Dingman Jun 7, 1988 5,101,654 J. F. Stevens Apr 7, 1992 5,119,667 F. C. Hollis, et al. Jun 9, 1992 ______________________________________
Of these devices, the Butts ('631) device is used to restore a deformed outer vehicle panel to its original contour by using an inflatable air bag. The air bag is placed between the outer and inner panels of the particular panel proximate the deformed portion, after which it is inflated. Once the air bag is inflated such that both the inner and outer panels are engaged, pressure gradually increases until the outer panel is reformed.
This type of device, however, is only useful for removing dents where an opposing wall is provided for helping retain the position of the air bag while being inflated and for aiding in the creation of pressure sufficient to force the dent out. Further, due to the nature of an inflatable bag, the '631 device is most practical in situations where the surfaces between which it is to be placed are generally smooth in order to prevent unintentional puncturing of the bladder of the air bag.
The device disclosed by Kemnitz, et al. ('791) includes a threaded point which is used to engage the sheet metal. The threaded point is driven into the sheet metal and then pulled back, thus pulling the dent out. However, it is necessary to further injure the surface of the metal in order to operate this device. Further, for the type of damage that has been described for race cars, the '791 device would have to be used in several locations in order to closely restore the original contour of the fender well. At each location where the '791 device is used, the inventors have disclosed that several repetitions of the pulling process are required.
Those devices disclosed by Dingman ('842) and Stevens ('654) both use vertical frames or supports which are secured to a floor surface. One or more chains or tension wires are secured to the automobile body at the point or points to be pulled. One or more winches are then operated to pull the tension wires, thus pulling the sheet metal. Again, this procedure must be performed at several locations in order to completely pull the dents from the automobile body. At each location, a considerable amount of time may be spent in setting up the devices in order to pull the dent, and further, a considerable amount of time may be required to operate the devices as well.
The device disclosed by Hollis, et al. ('667) is a pneumatically operated hammer which includes an air-driven piston which reciprocates rapidly back and forth, thus creating the hammering force. For body damage of the nature that race cars sustain as described, this type of device must be operated from within the fender well in order to push the dent out and to approximate the original contour. It is well known that working within a fender well that has sustained a collision of this nature may cause injury to the person or persons working to repair the sheet metal as tears in the sheet metal tend to occur, thus causing jagged edges to cut the hands and arms of the person or persons.
Although operation of a device from within the fender well is not altogether undesirable, a device of this nature must be held by hand such that the operator of the device must also be at least partially within the fender well during operation. It is undesirable to have any portion of the operator within the fender well during operation of the selected equipment.
None of the prior art devices made of record disclose the use of a single stroke mechanical device for pushing out dents in order to closely approximate original contours of a dented portion of an automobile. Specifically, none of the prior art references made of record disclose the use of the device to reform sheet metal proximate a fender well using a single stroke press the metal away from the fender well.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for reforming damaged sheet metal of an automobile fender well in order to conform it closely to its original contours in order to prevent damage from occurring to the tires of the automobile.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a means whereby the damaged sheet metal may be reformed in a local region using a single stroke of the engagement portion of the device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a means which may be operated from within the fender well in order to push the sheet metal into the selected configuration.
Still another object is to provide such a means which may be operated from within the fender well while not requiring the entry of any part of the operator into the fender well during operation of the device.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means whereby sheet metal proximate a fender well may be reformed after a collision, the device being easily secured and removed from the axle hub of the automobile.
Still another object of the present inventions to provide a means for reforming sheet metal proximate a fender well while reducing the risk of injury to the operator.